Improvement in grain-harvesters



THOMAS VAN` FOSSEN,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF LANCASTER, OHIO.

iM PRovEM ENT iN GRAIN-HARVESTERS.

- Speciication forming part of Letters latent No. 8,667, dated January20, 1852.

To all rwhom it 'may concern:

y y Be it known that I, THOMAS VAN'FossEN,

i The nature of my inventionconsists in certain new and usefulimprovementsI by which the standing grain, and particularlythat`portionwhich has been beatendown by the action of the wind and lodgedbetween the standing grain, is raised and drawn more eiectually underthe action ot' the cutters, wherebythe `possibility of the machinepassing over any portion of the grain, either standing or lodged,without cutting it clean will be prevented; and also inan improvedarrangementfor separatingV the cut grain, laying it straight, andpassing it along upon the"pl ati`orm into the trough or bundle-measurer.l

Myimpro'ved device for bringing the grain more perfectly andeieCtuallytmder. the action `of the cutters consists in providing thecom- ,mon reel ingeneraluse witlrhinged wings or slats. with projectingteeth attached to them,

. said wingsV acting with their` own weight as the reel revolves in sucha manneras rthe teeth and slats shall assume a vertical position just asthey come in contact' with the graimwhich `has the effect, to fallbetween the, standingV grain and under the beaten-down and lodgedgrain,.so as to bring all more eli'ectuallytothe vaction of the'cutters.

t My improveddevice for `'passing `thevlcut grain straight along theplatform consists,A of

`aseries of teeth or lingers projecting a little above the platformthrough slotsv in 'the sliding platform. lvSaidwteeth are 'so operatedupon as to catch and lay the grain ,straight upon the platform, whilethe sliding platform passes it along into the trough, from which it isdischarged upon the ground. The construction and operation of theseaforesaid devices will be hereinafter more t'ully described.

I construct the main frame of my machine pretty much asin the usualmanner. Y I have one main wheel,which supports the after part of themachine, and by which the machinery is driven, and it is attached to theshaft extending across the whole width.. of the machine, and two otherwheels, (represented in dotted lines,) a c', which are placed under andsupport the platform.` These front wheels are swivel-jointed andconnected by an elbow-rod under the bottom of the platform, (representedin dotted lines,) which can be operated upon by the conductor by thelever b, so as to guide the machine as desired. This arrange- .'ment forsteering or guiding the machine can be used or any other suitable devicewhich will answer the same purpose.

The drivingfwheel a has beveled cogs cut on one side of it, say, aboutthree inches' from its circumference, ,to prevent thedirt from lodgingor collecting in them. Crossing the shaft of the drivin g-wheel at rightangles is a' shaft, c, to which is attached a. small pinion, c/whichmeshes `intoV the driving-wheel. This shaft crosses the main shaftabove, rand is slightly inclined for the purpose of keeping the wheel c2Vfrom touching the'ground. On the opposite side of the driving-wheel tothat of the shaft c, and crossing the main shaft, alsov at right anglesand above it, is a.k shaft', d, with a small pinion, d', attached to it,'which m'eshes into the wheelcz'; and attached to it also'isacrank', d?,to which `is connected` a rod or pitman, e, jointed to a lever under the`bottom of the platform, (shown in dotted lines,)`having its fulcrum onthe bottom bed of the platt'ormi-frame, and connectedwith a plateto`which the cnt- `ters are connected,by which arrangement the desiredreciprocating motion `to the cuttersi's given. y j

The V,trame onfwhich thev sliding platform rests is formed of two beds,the upperone hav ing slotscut through it corresponding with thosecutiirtlie .platform to allowthe teeth or fingers( to rise and fall.` Thesliding platform yisjretained close to the, bedvbfy bolts or screws butslidesfreely `on thejblts in one direc. tion to and fro, and it isAreciprocateld bythe eccentric-rod g, operated by av cani or eccentric onthe wheel (,Shown in dotted lines.) y This rod yg is jointed to aprojecting arm.` l1, attached to the sliding platform.

The teeth or fingers h.' are attached to shafts extending across the bedframe', working through staples driven in the under side of the saine,and their inner ends are bent in the form of cranks, which pass throughstaples orholes at in a rod or beam, k. 'This rod k has a long slot cutthroughit at one end, through which the projecting arm 7L passes, and bywhich the platform, as it reciprocates, will draw the rod k back andforth, and raise and depress the 'teeth or fingers h', so that they willbe depressed or drawn under when the sliding platform has arrived at theend of its stroke, and be raised ab'ove the platform, as represented inthe drawings, so as to prevent the platform from carrying the grainback-,when at the end of `the returned stroke or motion of the platform.Thus by the combined action of the sliding platform and teeth the grainis alternately retained by the teeth and passed along by the platforminto the trough.

Ou each end of the `platform are ledges! l, which assist in keeping thegrain straight, and from the frame to the upper bed of theplatform-frame are 'braces m m, which arrest the grain and throw it overthe ledge L onto the platform.

lI construct my trough of sheet-irou--tbat yis to say, the frame ofita-and have it long enough to receive the grain, and suspend it`on oneside of the machine at the end of the plate form between a shoulder cuton the gatherer n and a projecting arm, n. formed o canvas or othersuitably-pliable-substance, o e side of which is secured to the 'sideofthe machine,.and the other side to the troughframe, so that the inneredge or frame of the trough, wlhen thetrough is canted, will straightenthe bottom and discharge the contents ofthe trough. The manner in whichI connect this trough with the machinery to dischargcitat intervals isby attaching a small wheel, o, to the end of the main shaft with a pin,p, inserted in it,"near its periphery, which, at each revolution of themain shaft, will impinge against a short arm or lever, q, which presseson a little lip or projection on the short arm of the lever r, the longarm of which is connected with the frme'of the trough by a shortconnecting-rod, s. The action of the pin p on' the lever calnts thetrough and discharges its contents; buta spring, t, secured to theframe, springs the trough. up again ready to receive another bundle ofgrain. The number of times which it will be necessary to empty thistrough of coursemust depend upon the size of the machine; for anordinary-sized machine once in each revolution o f the main shaft ordriving'- wheel will besuicient. This will drop the bundles about everyten feet; but should it be required to empty .the trough at any timeitis in the power ot' the conductor to do so by pulling the string u.

The reel I construct as in the'usual manner, wit-h the exception ofproviding the wings T he bottom ofit is or slats with teeth, and havingthem hinged or jointed to arms. The wings are all hinged vin onedirection-that is to say,on opposite sides of the arms-so that they willfall in a vertical position as the reel revolves, just be,- foreentering the grain, and as they draw the grain under the action of thecutters they willassume a straight line with the arms at atime when mostserviceable in' that position to retain the grain while under the actionof the cutters.

- Immediately under the slats and attached to the arms of the reel, aresmall brackets or shelves c for the wings or slats to rest or lodgeagainst, so as to prevent them from falling comfpletely over and to keepthem in a vertical position as the reel comes in contact with the grain.The desired motionis communicated to this reel by a band passing round apulley on its shaft from one ofthe driving-wheels.

I` attach the shafts, between which the horses or animal-power isgeared, to the center beam of the machine, just in rea-r of theplatform, which has the effect of applying the power 1n a line whichwill have a tendency to keep the machinel close to the ground and propel1t with ease and regularity. Whereas, if the shafts were short andattached immediately to the outer or after beam, the power would not beappliedto advantage,'as the 4machine would v have a tendency to risebehind, Sto.

The front or steering wheels I propose to Y exchange for larger orsmaller ones, as the case may be, for the purpose of raising'the rplatform higher or depressing it nearer to the ground for differentkinds of grain or grass.

g Some parts of Vmy machine I have deemed it unnecessary to describeparticularly, as they are constructed in the manner of machines ingeneral use, and any intelligent mechanic will` understand how toconstruct it by refer.

ence to the drawing.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim therein as new,and desire to se-A cure by Letters Patent, is

1. Constructing the reel with hinged or jointed slats, having teethprojecting from them, whereby the grain is more eiectually;

collected, raised, and drawn into the action of the cutters,substantially as described.

.sliding platform, which teeth rise and fall at the desired time,alternately arresting and re leasing the cut grain, whereby thereciprocating motion of the platform will keep the cut 2. Thecombination of the. teeth with the

